At the start of the 1980s, Norwich band Airbridge were seen by some as a band with potential. It never got fulfilled. Instead, after releasing one album – 1983’s Paradise Moves – they fell apart (a second album, Beyond the Veil, remains unreleased).
Singer Ed Percival worked for a computer company and guitarist/vocalist Lorenzo Bedini drifted away from the prog scene, although bassist Sean Godfrey and keyboard player Stephen Bennet (who would later work with Tim Bowness) went on to form LaHost alongside future Pendragon drummer Fudge Smith and Mark Spencer (Twelfth Night/Alan Reed).
“I was briefly a member of a theatrical cabaret band called Ure Beat,” says Bedini. “The money was good, but it was boring. Afterwards, while I never gave up playing completely, it just became a serious hobby.”
About a decade ago, Sean [Godfrey, bass/vocals] told me that there was a renewed interest,” reveals Bedini, “and it’s gone from there. It’s just Sean and me from those early days, though. In have come drummer David Dowdeswell-Allaway and an incredible singer from the Czech Republic called Pavla Kristofer.”
Bedini did reform Airbridge in the late 00's with Godfrey and former Airbridge live sound technician, Dave Dowdeswell-Allaway. The band released a new four-song EP called Return in July 2013. The band are planning to release the five-track Memories Of Water soon.
Since we originally ran this article, singer Ed Percival has resurfaced in modern prog band Mellotronanism alongside Matt Bell (bass) and Terry Arnett (drums). The band played at the XTC Convention of 2017 in Swindon (Percival had been a member of XTC tribute band Fossil Fools). They are scheduled to play at the 2021 convention.
You can watch their video for My Emily Regardless below.
A version of this article first appeared in issue 28 of Prog Magazine in 2012. it has since been updated.
